Kurdistan 24 reporter barred from covering joint CHP-Zafer presser in Ankara

Supporters of the anti-immigration party accused the media company of “dividing Turkey” as it bears the name of Kurdistan, the reporter learned.
Kurdistan 24 Ankara reporter Vural Erişmiş's photo is combined with Wednesday's joint CHP-Zafer Party. (Photo: Designed by Kurdistan 24)
Kurdistan 24 Ankara reporter Vural Erişmiş's photo is combined with Wednesday's joint CHP-Zafer Party. (Photo: Designed by Kurdistan 24)

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Representatives from the Turkish far-right Zafer (Victory) Party banned Kurdistan 24 Ankara reporter from covering a joint press conference  of the party’s leader and the presidential candidate Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu on Wednesday, accusing the Kurdish media of “dividing Turkey.”

Reporter Vural Erişmiş was not allowed to include a Kurdistan 24 mic on the presser’s podium at the party’s Ankara headquarters, where the party’s leader Ümit Özdağ expressed his party’s endorsement for Kılıçdaroğlu, who will run against incumbent President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in the run-off presidential elections on May 28. 

Supporters of the anti-immigration party accused the media company of “dividing Turkey” as it bears the name of Kurdistan, the reporter learned.

Erişmiş was told by the presser organizers that “the order” came from the party Özdağ.

Kurdistan 24 reporters have faced similar obstacles in the past, particularly during the Kurdish New Year Newroz in Istanbul this year. 

Millions of people in Turkey on May 14 headed to polling centers across the country to elect a new parliament and president.

Of the three presidential candidates, Erdoğan secured 49.5 percent of the votes, while his rival Kılıçdaroğlu obtained 44.9 percent, followed by 5.2 percent for Sinan Ogan, the candidate of the right-wing ATA Alliance and kingmaker in determining the victor of the May 28 run-off. 

On Monday, Ogan announced his endorsement for Erdogan, raising the incumbent president’s chances for a victory. 

The Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani, along with a number of Middle Eastern and European leaders, extended their congratulations to the Turkish president on winning the first round.